Chinese mantis not eating, not moving much

[Mars1962]

My 3 1/2 month old mantis has barely eaten in over a week. For a couple weekends in a row, I've let him (not positive of gender but seems to have 7 segments)out of his cage and he gleefully would climb my interior brick wall and spend the night up there. And fight me off when I'd hoist him down the next morning. Last time was Monday the 16th.

That weekend I also bought crickets from a different store -- they were far more active than the usuals and very "chirpy." Since he's been back in his room, he's only eaten 2 of them. He refuses to eat any more, and usually he immediately eats anybody I give him. I never feed him more than 2 a day (well, not since I learned better from studying a bit in July.)

I figured he was molting so I kicked out the crickets to give him some piece on Friday. No change. Sunday I got worried about him having eaten nothing in almost 5 days, so i bought small crickets from the first pet store and put 3 in with him. No change, and I even saw him hanging still while one climbed to the top and ran under his feet. Monday I threw them all out, cleaned cricket cage AND Rock's cage.

Today when i got in from work he was still just hanging around. I let him out onto his book shelf and pulled out a medium sized cricket and put it right by him. For a while he seemed to not SEE it -- he's moving his head really slowly, and didn't follow the cricket at all. So now i have him in another cleaned, EMPTY cage with no climbing stick to keep the cricket from coming up to bother him. Just Rock hanging onto the lid and the one medium cricket on the bare floor, so he should be easy to spot and catch.

I'm worried that the second store crickets were bad, and unfortunately I threw in the NEW bunch with them Sunday : ( cause I want to breed them. I also wonder if the brick wall was harmful in some way. Or -- silly of course -- could he be protesting that I don't just leave him out to live on my brick wall?

PLEASE help me with this -- he's my only one... (This is a flashed out shot of him climbing my brick wall on the right, my cat being restrained just watching, on the left.)

 

[lancaster1313]

That mantis is an adult, so there will be no more molting. It looks like it might be a female. I can't be sure but I think I see a fat abdomen, or is that part of the brick. Maybe if it is a female she will lay an ootheca. Someone who knows more will probably be along to give advice.

 

[ismart]

That is an adult female chinese mantis. She looks pretty plump. She could be getting ready to lay an ooth? If she is not lethargic, then she just might not be hungry.

 

[Mars1962]

Rock's a GRRRL?!!?? Far out! But, she has never mated -- she's been with me since she was 2 days old.

[i had a sibling too who wouldn't eat, and died on day 5; same day as the vast majority of the babies, according to the other people who took babies. But they were separated from Day 2.]

This picture shows a big belly on Aug 15.

Hmmm...

 

[Mars1962]

This is Rock on my arm, with my son attempting his first time letting her crawl on him. And tonight, still no change in Rock. Although the CRICKET I put in with her just molted... Rock, BTW, has molted exactly 5 times. I thought there were more than that.

 

[LauraMG]

They lay even if they haven't been mated. Cool and weird, I know. I like to share that fact with my non bug friends to suck them in! :lol: Look s like a female to me too. Definitely an adult though, maybe you missed a molt that a cricket ate or something? Who knows! Once those full wings are there, that means adult. My Chinese female got super psycho before she laid. She wouldn't eat, she was restless, she would crawl up the wall and fall down, only to flail on her back until she flipped herself over. It was craziness. It was after she'd been an adult for about a month that she laid. Hope some of that helps!

 

[Mars1962]

My Chinese female got super psycho before she laid. She wouldn't eat, she was restless, she would crawl up the wall and fall down, only to flail on her back until she flipped herself over. It was craziness. It was after she'd been an adult for about a month that she laid.

This sounds a lot like what's been going on. Oh my gosh! Time for me to read up on taking care of an ooth properly!!

She looks better tonight. I'm such a hovering parent -- tonight i again "bugged her" by taking her out and setting her (with her still holding onto the jar's cap) into a clean open box next to her cage. She was totally alert, looking around, started looking like she was going to shadow-box with her reflection, and cleaning herself a lot. Whoa... I've got some reading to do.

Here's Rock eating her first cricket, at exactly one month old : )

 

[MantidLord]

Actually, if she hasn't been mated then there's no reason to take care of the ooth. It hasn't been fertilized and therefore won't hatch.

 

[Rick]

That IS an adult female that looks about to lay an ooth any day now. You really shouldn't handle mantids too often IMO.

 

[Mars1962]

Yeah -- it occurred to me today that just cause it lays an egg sack doesn't mean they are going to grow into anything or hatch. Thanks for the definitive info.

Rick, I appreciate your expertise on the handling issue. I decided a while back to let her crawl on me if she comes out, but not to "pet" her or pick her up wit my hands unless it's an emergency (i.e. "Cat At 9:00!") She's quite fond of jumping from the rim of her cage (it's a 2-gallon jar with the lid cut open and replaced with screen) onto my chest and RUNNING up towards my face. Then I block her with my hand, she climbs on, and she makes her way up to my shoulder. Lather, rinse, repeat. But at your advice, I will keep it all to a minimum.

She's fine now. She ate two houseflies I threw in there this morning plus the medium cricket. She's calmly hanging on her stick head down (the stick is at an angle so she is too) and is responsive to my voice. But I'll leave her alone to let her do what she's gonna do. She sprayed a very thin splotch of milky something, about the size of a quarter, on the tank side yesterday. Warm-ups? Or maybe she's part Spider-Man.

Should I feed her again tomorrow though?

 

[Mars1962]

Please,somebody tell me this is within the normal range of bellies : ). After almost a week of refusing crickets, I brought her a half dozen houseflies and she ate them all up. Yesterday I gave her 3 crickets and she ate 2 of them at ONCE (one in each 'claw.') I let her out for a stretch and she climbed to the top of our tv antennae; stayed there a couple hours and was then compliant about going back into her cage.

But it does seem weird that I can see her belly walls going in and out like breathing, only in the section past the stripe that looks like a split. And she looks like her whole 'torso' has been dipped in a thin lacquer.

I gave her a handful of smaller sticks laying together like a raft today -- maybe she needs to lay an ooth on something flat? And I've always kept fresh water in a dish of gravel or marbles, but I'll start misting her room.

 

[LauraMG]

She's a fat one! She'll probably hang in some terribly awkward position to lay her ootheca, mine did! :lol: She really looks like she's about to lay though with that size belly! A couple of sticks in there going up and down should be plenty for her to find a suitable place. My Chinese likes to lay in the fork between 2 branches in this small log I keep in her tank. Good luck!

 

[ismart]

I would not feed that mantis for a few days. She looks like she could be becoming eggbound. I would try and find a mate for her. From experience chinese mantids don't usually lay infertile ooths very often. She needs to get laid!

 

[Mars1962]

So what happens if they are eggbound but not laying the ooth? I'm peeking in on her over and over all day. She's alert again, acting normal, hanging upside down, stalking crickets, eating normally again, responding to my voice when I call her name (for realz.) I tried not feeding her about 2 days but she just got mad, and went at the next two crickets double-fisted. I dripped some water in (I'm using distilled. I assume that's good.) She got excited when it started dripping, and licked a bunch from her arms. But no ooth. She's been huge for so long now! She looks healthy and happy so I'm trying not to worry...

 

[Ntsees]

I don't think you have to worry about anything. Based on the pictures and what you say, the mantid looks perfectly fine and healthy. Actually, for me, I wouldn't feed the mantid anymore food when it is as fat as that - maybe just a small fly per day or every other day. Also, that's how fat I make my adult females become because I want them to lay as many ooths as quickly as possible.